This series, Zikr-e-Habib, explores the life of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, and his sayings, shedding light on his noble character and the impact of his teachings on his followers and the world at large.
M Adam Ahmad, Al Hakam
The prophets of Allah the Almighty have strong jealousy [ghayrah] for the honour of His religion and messengers. The great responsibility of upholding the truth drives their unwavering devotion to the glory of faith and the preservation of Divine revelations. Moreover, God’s messengers are stalwartly committed to safeguarding the honour of other prophets, as they are well aware of the fact that any attempt to disrespect or discredit the chosen ones of Allah the Almighty would ultimately tarnish prophethood as a whole and undermine their mission of guiding humanity.
In this age, Prophet Ahmadas was sent by God Almighty as the Latter-Day Messiah to revive faith and bring back its former glory. Throughout his life, the Promised Messiahas made every effort to purify Islam of superstitions, innovations, false practices, etc. that had been later added to it and showed great vigilance in guarding its honour.
Hazrat Maulvi Abdul Karim Sialkotira writes:
“There is only one thing that affects, rouses, and angers His Holinessas [the Promised Messiah], and that is an affront to the sacred things of Allah, or a dishonour of the sacred Signs of Allah. Once His Holinessas said: ‘It would be easier for me to see my property destroyed and my children cut to pieces before my eyes, than to see the Faith dishonoured and seen with contempt, and then for me to do nothing.’
“During the days when the hurtful and vile book, [Ummahatul Mumineenn] – which was nothing more than injury and offence, and presented not a single rational argument with – was published and received, on reading this book His Holinessas felt such grief that he verbally expressed: ‘Bitter has my comfort become.’” (Life of the Promised Messiahas, pp. 92-93)
Maulvi Muhmmad Hussian Batalavi, who later became a stark opponent of the Promised Messiahas, also testified to the fact that Prophet Ahmadas “safeguarded the honour of Muslims” and challenged the enemies of Islam with compelling arguments. Highlighting his review of the Promised Messiah’sas book, Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Iain Adamson writes:
“The first two volumes of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya appeared in 1880. The response was spectacular. Muhammad Hussain, his former schoolmate at Batala, was now a leader of the Ahl-e-Hadith sect and editor of a newspaper entitled Ishaat-us-Sunnah. He wrote a massive two-hundred-page review which was spread over six issues.
“He, first of all, drew attention to the fact that he had known Ahmad since boyhood. […]
“He concluded with the following appeal:
“The excellence of this book and its benefits for Islam will be recognised by those who read it with an open mind. […] Therefore, acting up on the principle that the only return for beneficence is beneficence, we wish to point out that helping the publication of this book through a contribution towards the cost of printing is a duty laid down on the entire Muslim community.
“The author of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya [the Promised Messiahas] has, by writing this book, safeguarded the honour of the Muslims and has challenged the opponents of Islam emphatically and forcefully. He has announced to the whole world that anyone who doubts the truth of Islam should come to him and witness the intellectual and spiritual proofs based upon the Quran and the miraculous manifestation of the prophethood of Muhammad[sa] in support of the truth of Islam.” (Ahmad[as], The Guided One, pp. 77-79)
Shedding light on his advent and the state of Islam, The Promised Messiahas says:
“At the present time, Islam is being attacked, as in the case of the ‘People of the Elephant’. The Muslims suffer from many weaknesses. Islam is deprived and the ‘People of the Elephant’ are in strength. But even now, Allah the Exalted desires to manifest a similar demonstration as in the past. […]
“The very meaning of Islam and faith is to align one’s thoughts and desires with the will of God. God does not care for the honour and dignity of any person who has no indignation and jealousy [ghayrah] for Islam, irrespective of who they may be; such a person is not a practising Muslim.
“Do not view the affairs of God with contempt, and consider worthy of pity those who have rejected the truth on account of prejudice and have said that there is no need for anyone’s advent in this era of peace. Pity be upon them. They do not see how Islam is besieged by its enemies and onslaughts are being waged against it from all directions; the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is maligned. Yet, despite all this, they say that there is no need for anyone?” (Malfuzat [English], Vol. 1, pp. 180-181)
This righteous indignation for protecting the honour of Islam was not motivated by his ego or any personal gain, but rather, Prophet Ahmadas was solely focused on fighting against false ideologies that threatened the true essence of faith and the spiritual and moral well-being of mankind. In one of his Persian poems, the Promised Messiahas states:
بر عزتِ من اگر كسے حملہ كند
صبر است طریق ہمچو خوئے تو مرا
“If someone assails my honour, my habit – like Yours [God Almighty] – is to be forbearing.
من چىستم و چہ عزتم ہست مگر
جنگ است زِ بہرِ آبروئے تو مرا
“What am I, and of what worth is my honour? This battle is only for the sake of Your honour.” (Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Part V, p. 221)
On the other hand, when God’s prophets go to great lengths for the honour of His faith, Allah the Almighty’s jealousy rises to honour them. The Promised Messiahas said:
“However, it was the grace of Allah the Exalted and His special favour that He honoured me in every conflict and humiliated my enemies and those who sought my humiliation.” (Malfuzat [English], Vol. 10, pp. 197-98)
Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmadra narrated an incident of Allah the Almighty’s jealousy for His servant and the absolute trust of the Promised Messiahas in Him. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIra states:
“God Almighty raised the Promised Messiahas in our midst, and his existence became a manifest sign for us. Whoever sat before him witnessed the verities of the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophetsa, and there remained nothing that would deter such a person from Islam. When a case about Karam Din Bheen was filed against the Promised Messiahas, the magistrate at the time was a Hindu. The Aryas persuaded him to sentence the Promised Messiahas, and he promised them to do so. Khawaja Kamaluddin Sahib became worried when he heard of this. He visited the Promised Messiahas in Gurdaspur, where he was staying during the trial, and stated, ‘Huzooras, I have news of great concern! The Aryas have swayed the magistrate, and he has taken an oath to sentence you.’ At the time, the Promised Messiahas was lying down, he sat up straightaway and stated, ‘Khawaja Sahib! Who can place their hands on the Lion of God? I am the Lion of God; let him try to put his hands on me.’
“Hence, this is precisely what followed. This case was presented in the courts of two magistrates, one after the other, and both of them were severely punished. One of them, who wanted to take action against the Promised Messiahas, was suspended. The other magistrate lost his son, who drowned in a river, and this incident affected him so much that he became partially insane.” (Tafsir-e-Kabir, Vol. 6, p. 359; Friday Sermon, Al Hakam, Vol. 2, Issue 57)
The Promised Messiahas also strived to uphold the dignity of other messengers. In particular, Prophet Ahmadas showed profound jealousy for the honour of the greatest of all the prophets, Hazrat Muhammad al-Mustafa, peace and blessing of Allah be upon him. On one occasion, Prophet Ahmadas said:
“I consider it a part of my faith to honour and revere the Prophets, but my belief in the superiority of the Noble Prophetsa over all the other Prophets, peace be upon them, is the greatest aspect of my faith, and is a part of my very being and fibre. It is not within my power to remove this nature. An unfortunate and blind opponent can say whatever they please. Our Noble Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, accomplished such a feat which no one else could have done individually or collectively; this is the grace of Allah Almighty.” (Malfuzat [English], Vol. 3, p. 66)
Hazrat Sheikh Yaqub Ali Irfani Sahibra said:
“It is a proven fact about the Promised Messiahas that he had great jealousy for the honour of faith. In particular, Huzooras would become really impatient upon hearing any word of disrespect for the Holy Prophetsa and could not tolerate it at all. There are many incidents in the life of the Promised Messiahas which shed light on this matter.
“The Promised Messiahas stopped seeing his aunt, Bibi Sahib Jan (wife of the late Mirza Ghulam Haider Sahib) and abstained from eating at her house. The reason was simple, she had uttered a slightly disrespectful word that was against the honour of the Holy Prophetsa. In spite of the fact that the Promised Messiahas revered his elders, the aforementioned incident had such an effect on him that his face flushed with anger, and Huzooras even stopped eating [for some time].” (Hayat-e-Ahmad, Vol. 1, Part III, pp. 344-345)
A prominent Arya Samaj leader, Pandit Lekhram was advised by Prophet Ahmadas to refrain from dishonouring the Holy Prophetsa because his attacks on his character were extremely insulting and provocative. However, he did not pay heed and met his demise through Divine wrath.
Once, Pandit Lekhram happened to come across the Promised Messiahas and witnessed his indignation and jealousy for the honour of the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa. The incident is as follows:
“In November 1893, [Hazrat Ahmadas] visited Ferozepur to meet his father-in-law, Hazrat Mir Nasir Nawab Sahibra, who was employed in the canal department since his youth. On his return from there on 14 December 1893, while performing ablution in a mosque near Lahore railway station, the famous Arya Samaj leader, Pandit Lekhram, came before Huzooras and greeted him, but the Promised Messiahas did not respond. He [Lekhram] came from the other side and greeted him [again], thinking that he might not have heard. However, [Huzooras] still did not pay any attention. When Pandit Ji returned disappointed, someone thought that perhaps the Promised Messiahas did not hear Pandit Lekhram greet him. He told Huzooras that Pandit Lekhram had come and greeted him. Upon hearing this, the Promised Messiahas said, with great pride, ‘Is he not ashamed? He insults our master, the Holy Prophetsa, and greets us.’” (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat Lahore, Sheikh Abdul Qadir, pp. 30-31; Al Hakam, 22 July 2022, Vol. 5, Issue 227)
On one occasion, Prophet Ahmadas said:
“He [Lekhram] did not inflict any sort of harm or injury upon my own person directly. He did, however, make insolent attacks against the holy personage of the Noble Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and dishonoured him in such ways that my heart began to palpitate and I was extremely grieved. I presented his [instances of] disrespect and impertinence before God with a broken heart, and as a recompense for Lekhram’s insolence and disrespect, God conferred upon me a prophecy about him. In the very same prophecy, his death, the time of his death, and the manner in which he would die – among other details – were explicitly stated. In the context of this prophecy, there is an illustration of a hand. Then, in the same connection, the following words are mentioned:
بترس از تیغِ برّانِ محمدؐ
‘Fear the sharp sword of Muhammadsa.’
“All this is clearly recorded. Now someone ought to tell me whether it is within the human design and power to foretell of such a happening five years in advance when Lekhram was a young man of merely twenty-four or twenty-five years of age? Of course not. This is an act of God Almighty. This is far beyond and above human power, or human understanding and comprehension.” (Malfuzat [English], Vol. 2, pp. 282-83)
The Promised Messiahas said:
“One ought to reflect that if a disease were spreading in the form of an epidemic, would a doctor seek to cure that disease or would he provide a remedy for some other illness? The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has become the subject of extreme mockery. [… Today, Muslims] read and listen to slanderous books and feel no indignation. They cannot even bring themselves to dislike such publications. On the contrary, they oppose, mock, and ridicule the person who has been sent specifically by God to put an end to this calamity and who is possessed with a distinct jealousy for the honour and glory of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. May God Almighty Himself grant these people a discerning eye. Amin.” (Malfuzat [English], Vol. 1, pp. 178-179)
Prophet Ahmadas had an unceasing passion for safeguarding the honour of faith and defending the dignity of the Holy Prophetsa. Thus, we conclude this narration of eternal loyalty to the cause of God Almighty with the following words of the Promised Messiahas:
“The insults that have been offered to Islam and the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be on him, the attacks that have been made against Divine Law and the apostasies and heresies that have become widespread, cannot be matched in any other age. Is it not true that in a short while in India alone, a hundred thousand people have become Christians, more than sixty million books have been published in opposition to Islam, people belonging to high families have lost their religion, those who used to describe themselves as the descendants of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be on him, have put on the garment of Christianity and have become his enemies, and numberless books full of vile abuse against the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be on him, have been published?
“My heart cries out with tears that if these people had murdered my children before my eyes, and had cut to pieces my sincere friends, and had killed me with great humiliation, and had possessed themselves of all my property, I would not have been so pained and my heart would not have been so hurt as it has been pained and hurt by the insults offered to the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be on him.” (Aina-e-Kamalat-e-Islam, Ruhani Khazain, Vol. 5, pp. 51-52; The Essence of Islam, Vol. 1, pp. 320-21)